


The Blue Island

by branchesofstars



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 1920s Romance But In Space, F/M, Happy Ending, Mysterious Scoundrel Ben, Rey Is In Her Early Twenties And Ben Is 10 Years Older, Scavenger Rey, The Blue Castle AU, Two fools in love, mention of child abandonment and fictional SW health problems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28048149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/branchesofstars/pseuds/branchesofstars
Summary: Rey didn’t know where the rumours came from. Everyone knew that he was an escaped convict and a war criminal and an agent of the fallen Galactic Empire and a murderer living in hiding and a bounty hunter and a Sith loyalist and a scoundrel and a spice runner and a few other things.But strangely, Rey didn’t believe he was bad. Nobody with a smile like that could be bad, no matter what he had done.So lonely... so afraid to leave...you imagine an island.A lonely scavenger Rey finds solace in her daydreams about the Blue Island - a place far away from Jakku. Somewhere where her life is filled with adventure and love and happiness. But when she learns shocking news from a healer, will she try to reach for this dream?Inspired by a 1926 novel by LM Montgomery
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe I’m actually finally posting this. I’ve been thinking about it and writing for months! This is my first time posting on here, so if you have any advice, suggestions, tips etc please give them to me!  
> This is a Blue Castle AU, and major plot points are inspired by this book, so if you haven’t read it and are planning to, I warn you there will be spoilers. “The Blue Castle” is a 1926 novel by the Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery, best known for the “Anne of Green Gables” books. “Castle” is one of her two adult novels, and it’s one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read! I read it more than a year ago, but I can’t stop thinking about it, and a few months ago I started noticing some parallels between this book and reylo.  
> As I’ve said in the tags, mention of child abandonment, fictional SW illness, a couple of fights — nothing you wouldn’t see in a Star Wars movie.
> 
> I’m nervous to post this, but here we go!

_“You may tire of reality but you never tire of dreams.”  
L.M. Montgomery _

Rey woke up, but stayed in her hammock. It was early morning. The light was seeping through the gaps in the walls, the rays of waking sun visible in the dusty air.

Last night she fell asleep thinking about her Blue Island. 

It was something that came to her as a child — the image of it. A beautiful island, surrounded by water, on a planet covered with trees. 

It was the picture of everything she wanted, and everything she would never have.

Rey imagined herself living there. The more she thought about it, the clearer the image got. On the island there was a house — a real house — not a toppled rusty AT-AT — but a small, lovely place with windows and roof. It was surrounded by colorful plants, and was the perfect image of somewhere Rey would be completely and totally happy.

There she spent her days doing everything she wanted. Walking around the garden, looking at beautiful pictures, learning about the universe, eating delicious meals as the sun set over the sea. Rey even had her own ship, which she used to travel to different planets once in a while.

Rey was not alone there, in her daydreams. Her parents weren’t there with her on the island — thinking about them brought only pain, and her island was the place of happiness and escape.

Instead, there was a Prince.

When he first appeared, he took a form of a light haired, blue eyed boy. They were friends, they played together and told each other stories.

Then, as she grew older, he transformed into someone dark, tall and strong. 

Lately the Prince took a form similar to someone she saw in a picture: a smiling, curly-haired young pilot with big, soft eyes. 

The Prince changed as she was growing up — one morphing into the other, their appearance influenced by the humans she saw on Jakku, or in books or holovids.

The Prince was her best friend, protector, helper. Someone who loved her and took care of her. She loved him, too.

Escaping in this dream of a perfect life on the island was something she did every day of her life. But in the morning all the dreams disappeared, like a bottle of water left under the hot Jakku sun. With the morning came the dreaded feeling of sadness and loneliness, and every morning she scratched a new line on a wall of hundreds, each of them indicating a day since her parents left her all alone.

For all these years, more than fifteen now, she waited for them to return for her. She never tried to leave Jakku, and stayed in the place they left her, doing the same hairstyle she was wearing the day they left — triple buns — in hopes that one day, when they come back, they would recognize her and take her away. 

As she grew older, this glimmer of hope was becoming fainter. But if she gave up believing in this, what was the reason to go on?

. . . 

Rey stood up from the hammock, grunting a bit — she pulled a side muscle the day before, when she was climbing to scavenge a particularly good-looking part. She would sell it later that day to Unkar Plutt — her provision stock was getting alarmingly low. 

But before that, she had to go to meet Maz Kanata.

—The day before— 

Staff behind her back and the bag with scavenged parts tightly in her hand, Rey, exhausted by the long day of work, walked into a busy cantina to get a glass of cold water, when someone called her name from the corner of the room.

It was mirialan called Melster, a smuggler who sold many things, some legal, some illegal, some very hard to get. He was sitting alone in the corner of the room, sipping a cheap cocktail through a straw.

Rey changed direction and walked to his table.

“Good day, Melster. Do you have the new one?” 

“Not yet. The last stock sold out too fast, I couldn’t get even one. But come, sit with me, I have something else that might interest you.”

“Ouch.” As Rey sat down in the chair in front of the mirialan, her side muscle stretched painfully.

A squeaky droid arrived, she ordered a glass of water.

“There. An old one, but a good one.” He fumbled in one of his many pockets and put a holodisc on the table.

“How much?”

“For you, five credits.”

“You tell everyone that.” Rey said skeptically.

“What?”

“Only for you and stuff like that.”

He leaned back, sipping his cocktail. Something which looked like the eyes of a small creature was floating in it.

“True. But I mean it with you. Not many folks here buy such expensive things as you do, so it’s only fair for me to take the price down for you. Though, I admit, the last holodisc I sold was for the same price, but that was because the guy looked real menacing, a true scoundrel by the looks of him — I was too afraid to ask for ten credits.”

The droid arrived with the water. 

_“For a smuggler, he sure is a coward“_ , thought Rey.

She put the credits in Melster’s hand and took the holodisc. It was old and well used, but she could still see the crest of the New Republic on it.

“You know, do you sell any medicine?” She asked after a moment, not raising her eyes from the holodisc.

“No. Too much work getting it.”

“Kriff,” she said under her breath and put the holodisc in her bag.

“Why? Are you ill?” He didn’t sound particularly interested.

Rey hesitated a moment before answering. But she had to tell someone, even if it was the smuggler. Maybe he’d feel sorry for her enough to get something to help her.

“It’s just… I’ve been feeling pretty weird lately. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to fall over all of a sudden. My heart starts beating very quickly at times. And my chest hurts.”

Melster thought for a moment. “You know what? You don’t even need my help. You’re in luck. There’s a healer visiting — Maz is her name, Maz Kanata. She’s staying just near the northern village. She’s leaving soon, so you better see her as soon as you can.”

Rey’s heart sank a bit. “Is she very expensive?” 

“Not at all. She can’t expect to make big money on this planet, you know?” His look changed from lazy to nervous as he saw a trandoshan come in. “Oh, I better get going, there’s Giffo, don’t wanna cross paths with him. You haven’t seen me.”

“I haven’t. Bye, take care.” Melster has already fled.

Rey stayed sitting at the table a bit more. It took some time before she managed to persuade herself that this was her only chance to learn what’s wrong, so she finally decided to go see Maz, who will surely find out what was happening with her and maybe even heal her, the next day.

✨ ✨ ✨

Trying to look as presentable as possible, she carefully did her hair, the usual triple buns, scrubbed her face and hands with a wet cloth, and put on some cleaner clothes. 

She was too nervous to be hungry, but forced herself to have some instant bread.

Staff on her shoulder, goggles and face covering on — and she was off.

The sun was just above the horizon line, the morning not very hot yet. It was always bright on Jakku— painfully bright, especially after you spent half a day rummaging in the cool darkness inside the crashed ships of the Jakku Graveyard. The sand didn’t have the time to heat up yet, and there was the slightest wind, which, with the help of Rey’s driving, felt almost cool.

Thankfully, Dr Maz was staying not far — about half of an hour ride from the Niima Outpost. Rey learned from the barman in the cantina that the famous healer was traveling from planet to planet, staying for a few weeks and then leaving for the next destination. 

Healers were rare, and Maz was a good one. For a small price she could find out what was wrong, sold medicine and healed those who could be helped.

From afar she saw two ships: a large one and a smaller one — this must be it. There was a speeder nearby —someone else has come to see Maz. 

Rey hopped out of the speeder and approached the ship. When she came closer, the door opened.

It was cool inside, and smelled of herbs, leather and dust. She was met by a female Twi’lek, who asked her to wait. While Rey anxiously waited, she had time to look around the room, which not only served as a place for the patients to sit while Maz was occupied, but also as a storeroom with loads of scrolls and weird objects Rey had never seen before.

Finally, a small, wrinkled old woman came out, and Rey went in.

Maz was not very talkative. She asked Rey her age, what ailed her, made some measurements, ran a couple of tests, fumbled with some weird-looking objects, looked in Rey’s eyes through her peculiar goggles and felt the air around Rey with her eyes closed. It all felt very weird, but Rey felt calmness in Maz’s presence. While a medical droid was printing a small scroll of some test results, and after Maz made a comment on how underfed Rey looked, there was a beeping sound from the next room, and a few seconds later the twi'lek appeared, and announced that there was an urgent message for Maz. The doctor went out and closed the door behind her.

Rey waited. After what felt like half an hour she heard the sound of a ship taking off. Rey got impatient and looked out of the room. Maz wasn’t there. The twi'lek looked up from her desk.

“Oh, I forgot you were there. There was an urgent message. An explosion on Carellia. They need as many healers as they can find. Maz already left. You can go, she’s finished with you. I’ll send you your results. Where do you live?”

Rey paid five credits for her visit, said goodbye and left.

Rey was grumpy about the pointless waiting and the forgetfulness of the doctor’s assistant, and felt disappointed that she had to wait for the results. Maz was not likely to return to Jakku any time soon. 

Still, there was also relief that the visit was over, and that soon she will know if there is anything she should worry about. After all, it probably was nothing.

Rey wanted to go straight to the Niima Outpost to save some fuel, but her grumbling stomach had other ideas, so she had to return home.

The dinner was the same as the breakfast, the same as every day, really — but it made her feel better. Rey was always grumpy when hungry. And she was hungry a lot. 

In much better spirits, Rey started for the outpost, this time on foot, as the speeder fuel was getting dangerously low. With her she took a couple of small parts in her bag and, hidden in the secret pocket of her clothes, a few precious credits, in case Melster got luckier that day.

At the gates of the market she saw a speeder parked. It was Kylo Ren’s speeder, and Kylo himself was scrambling from under it, covered in dust and sand. Rey gave him a quick look as she went by. 

She has seen the notorious Kylo Ren only a few times before, though she had heard enough about him for the last couple of years he was living in these parts of Jakku. 

She didn’t know much about Kylo. He lived about an hour’s ride from the Niima outpost with an old Wookiee, but rarely appeared in places where she could see him. From what she’s heard, he rarely left his house at all, apart from the times he left the planet altogether on his old ship. Where he went was a mystery, as were most of the things about him.

The first time she saw him, he was crawling out from under his speeder then, too, and when he saw her looking at him he had given her a grin as she went by. He didn’t look bad, in spite of the wild rumours that were always told about him.

Rey didn’t know where the information came from. Yes, his too-fast-to-be-safe driving skills were famous, and she was aware that he had gotten himself in a couple of bar fights. But everyone knew that he was an escaped convict and a war criminal and an agent of the fallen Galactic Empire and a murderer living in hiding and a bounty hunter and a Sith loyalist and a scoundrel and a spice runner and a few other things.

But strangely, Rey didn’t believe he was bad. Nobody with a smile like that could be bad, no matter what he had done.

It was that night the Prince on her blue planet changed from the pilot with big soft eyes to a tall, broad-shouldered individual with a slightly slanted jaw, a long nose, a pair of twinkling eyes, and slightly stuck out ears, which were hidden underneath his unkempt, glossy dark hair. 

Just now Kylo looked as disreputable as ever. If he was a criminal, he really looked the part. He had a stubble, and his simple grey clothes were covered in sand and dirt and mechanical oil.

Rey envied him. He didn’t live alone, didn’t need to spend his days scavenging, and could leave the planet any time. Why he was here in the first place was a mystery, but maybe Jakku was a good place to hide. And although she noticed that there was something that looked like sadness in his eyes, he looked free, and happy. 

By the time Rey passed by, he finished fixing his speeder, then hopped on to the speeder, put his goggles on and shot past her, his dark hair blowing in the wind.

✨

Rey slammed the parts before Unkar Plutt, or Blobfish, as she called him.

“Hmmm… two portions.” 

Rey was indignant. “What do you mean, two? There is enough for ten! Look at this, as good as new, I’ve cleaned them well, and the metal… ”

He interrupted her. “Three and that’s final. Don’t want three, you can go back home and sell them to me tomorrow for one.”

“Ugh, fine.” Rey put the packets of instant bread in her bag. _“He’s even meaner than usual”,_ she thought.

Plutt leaned towards her.

“You know, Rey? I heard a rumor about you,” he said in the most falsely kind voice. Rey didn’t look up. “A nasty rumour that you were selling the best parts you scavenged to your Resistance pals. Of course, I didn’t believe this. My best scavenger, a girl I took in and took care of when her parents abandoned her, taught her how to work, fed her… selling my goods behind my back. No, surely this isn’t true.”

Rey looked up at him. “No, of course not.”

Looking in her eyes, he continued. “They’re not your friends. You have no friends. You’re alone, and you’ll always be alone.”

“You see, if I find any evidence that this is true… if I catch you double-dealing behind my back… well, a couple months working in my dungeons will teach you not to cross me again. You’ll be begging to return to the surface, to take a breath of the hot air you hate so much.” Plutt’s voice lost all its fake niceness. “Now, go.”

Rey left. She was disconcerted. 

The thing was, it was all true. 

About a year ago she stumbled upon Finn, who crashed onto the surface of Jakku. She helped him get back to his friends. While he was there with her she told him about her scavenging life.

After a couple of months he returned with his friends, most of them pilots or still in training — Poe, Rose and a couple of others. They stayed for some time to study the crashed imperial ships — apparently it was a useful research for the members of the Resistance. They also helped Rey by selling some of the best parts she has found, and paying her much more than Blobfish ever did.

Finn and his friends were supposed to return soon. The plan was for them to return the previous month, but she got a message from Finn telling her about a delay. That’s why her stock of food and credits was getting low — she saved the best parts for them, and the ones left were barely good enough to exchange for enough food to get by.

The sun was setting as Rey walked home. For now, the question was, how did Unkar Plutt learn about this? Who tipped him off? How long has he known? Probably not for long, otherwise he’d already sent his thugs for her, or threatened her earlier.

Rey returned home deep in thought. She prepared a meal. There were only two more left.

To distract herself, she turned on the projector and put in the holodisc she bought the day before.

Most of the things she knew about ships and piloting was from holos like these. They were a part of the training program in the New Republic, and more recently, the Resistance. The Resistance ones were harder to acquire, as most of the files didn’t have time to seep through the black market.

This one was an older New Republic one, and featured the already familiar to Rey Pilot 2 — a young man, maybe in his thirties. He appeared to have had dark hair, and had a deep, gruffy voice, like he didn’t really want to be recording lessons for young pilots and had better things to do. 

He made terrible jokes, and his slang was old, and some of his information was outdated, but he also knew a lot and taught well. Rey was grateful to Pilot 2. She managed to pick up a lot of his tips about piloting. They sometimes went against the usual rules, and seemed risky, but were very useful. 

Rey watched the piloting lessons until the sun set, and went to sleep, exhausted. Even her tiredness didn’t prevent her from going over the events of the day. So many things happened.

The last thing she remembered before falling asleep were a pair of amber eyes. Soft, smiling, but sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I hope you liked it! I’m working on chapter two. I have a draft for most of the fic written already, but there is still some work to be done.  
> You’ll learn what expensive things Rey is buying very soon!  
> For updates, you can follow me on Twitter at @branchesofstars


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally updating again! Sorry for the delay.  
> I was so surprised and touched that you guys actually read, commented and left kudos under the first chapter! I kind of didn’t expect it. Who would’ve thought people will actually read if I post on here :D
> 
> I decided to divide what I though would be the second chapter in two, because it turned out to be too long and I got tired of editing. The second half hopefully coming shortly!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

_“My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes.”  
L. M. Montgomery _

That’s the thing with roses. They are supposed to bloom. 

When, in the morning, Rey went out to check on her little desert rose bush, she was disappointed once again. Her little plant was green and thorny and as lively as usual, but there were no flowers on it, not even a hint of one. 

She bought the rose sapling months ago from Melster, and it cost her quite a lot. She could have bought a couple of days worth of food with the credits she spent on it — this kind of rose was rare, as it had to be able to grow in the heat of a desert — but she wanted one so much! So, Rey planted it, watered it and kept from harm’s way. But it didn’t bloom. There was not one flower bud.

She squatted near the rose bush and looked at it. It grew there, in the shade of the AT-AT, its thick, glossy little leaves swaying gently in the wind. It looked so innocent of its crime! Rey was filled with a sudden, overwhelming hatred for it.

Frankly, she was tired to death waiting for the rose to bloom. She spent the previous evening thinking about her dreary life, had another spell of pain in the night, worse than ever, and ate a poor breakfast in the morning; the combination of these misfortunes made her take the rose by its stem and pull hard.

But the stubborn plant didn’t want to let go of the earth, the roots having grown long enough to find underground moisture.

“Kriff,” Rey swore, when a thorn scratched her hand. She marched inside, brought back a knife with her, and started cutting off the branches instead, one by one. 

It was then that someone called Rey’s name. She almost jumped from the suddenness. 

Rey gripped the knife in her hand, ready to defend herself — those could be Blobfish’s thugs again, they knew her name — and turned around only to see a familiar figure. She felt a wave of relief. “Oh, Finn, it’s you. Please don’t scare me like that again.” Her heart was beating very fast.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” He took her in, sitting on the sand, a knife in one hand, surrounded by the remains of the plant. “Having a bad day?”

Rey nodded.

“But why—

“Never mind!” she snapped at him, but instantly realized how harsh her words came out. “Sorry. Not feeling like myself.” Finn looked tired, and his jacket was covered in dust and dirt. “When did you arrive?”

“Just now. Well, a couple hours ago, really — but we had an argument with the guy who owns the hut we’re staying in. There was a big puddle of something _unsavory_ in one of the rooms, and Poe made the poor guy scrub the floor clean. He said that we’re not paying ten credits a night to sleep amongst teedo sick.”

Rey was shaking leaves off of herself but looked up at this, indignant. “You’re paying him ten credits? Kriff, that guy’s ripping you off.”

Finn only shrugged. “Look, is it a bad time? Should I come by later?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. It’s just that we’re all meeting at the cantina in half an hour, and I — we wanted you to come.”

“Of course. Thank you, Finn.” Turned out, it did feel nice to finally have some company for once. “I’m glad you’re back.” 

Rey stood up and picked up her knife. “Come in before you melt outside, I want to grab a few things before we go.” 

Finn hasn’t been inside Rey’s home since that fateful day when he crashed on Jakku. Thankfully, from afar Rey saw the slightly smoking Y-wing land in a sand dune, and arrived in time to help a dazed Finn, who was on a classified mission from the Resistance and had to make an emergency landing, to get out of the ship, before a gang of teedos could swarm in and take the ship apart.

In a couple of days Rey fixed Finn’s ship. Against her initial decision not to trust him, by the end of the second day Rey felt like she might have made a friend, first in a really long time. He seemed kind and friendly, if a bit awkward at first. She told Finn about her life on Jakku, he told her how he came to be a member of the Resistance. Before he left he promised to pay her back for helping him — a promise she only half-believed he would keep — and asked if she wanted to leave with him. “No, I can’t,” she answered, and waved him goodbye. Surprisingly, Finn did come back, and brought food and credits with him, along with his friends, and they all stayed for a couple of weeks. Now they have come back. Rey thought it weird that the Resistance needed even more time to research the ships of Jakku’s graveyard — they must have other resources available, not these useless ruins — but after all, what did she, a scavenger, know of private military forces and their ways? 

“Woah, it’s cool in here,” Finn said and blissfully exhaled. He was looking around the room while Rey was packing some credits and a water bottle into her bag.

“Yeah, I love the feeling you get after you come in from the outside. You feel like, after all, life is great,” Rey laughed. “Want a drink?”

“No, I have some water with me at all times now. I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

“Nothing prepares you for life in the desert like living in the desert. Come, I’m ready.”

“Wait a moment, I wanted to ask you something.”

Rey was already at the entrance. “What?”

“Look, are you sure you wouldn’t want to leave with us? We could arrange—

Rey didn’t let him finish. “Finn! I told you last time—

“But—

“No. I don’t want to talk about this.” She pleaded. “Let’s go now, your friends are waiting.”

*

The cantina was not yet very crowded, only about half of the booths and tables were already taken — after all, there was only one cantina around these parts of Jakku, though there was talk of another one opening.

Rose was the first one to notice Finn and Rey enter. She waved to them and smiled shyly. 

They — there were seven of them — sat in one of the biggest booths in the corner of the cantina. From the group, Rey already knew Rose, the mechanic, as well as Poe — Finn’s reckless best friend, lieutenant Kaydel Ko and pilots Tallie and Jess. She was introduced to the others, Pamich and Ello.

They exchanged the most recent news. Some issues were discussed, like that there was a setback in the piloting academy. Rey told them about her conversation with Unkar Plutt, which prompted a concern about someone in the group not being discreet enough. After that Rey mostly sat quietly, listening to others talk, picking on bits of information they acquired while they were away, and taking in stories about interesting people and places. Rose, Finn, Poe and Tallie came straight from the Resistance headquarters, while the others just finished a mission on Takodana, so they all had something to say to each other. 

They ordered plenty of food and drinks. Rey felt so tired of veg-meat and polystarch that even the semi-decent Jakku cantina food seemed heavenly.

After a while, the conversation became more casual. Rey felt tired, and warm from the food; the sounds of the crowded cantina made her drowsy. Everyone was talking around her, and the pieces of sentences drifted to her as if through a fog.

Tallie, who Rey thought was looking more cheerful than usual, was telling Jess something about a boy she left at home; Poe and Finn were having a heated argument about someone high-up in the resistance hierarchy, though they were using code names, so Rey wasn’t sure who it was; Pamich was telling a giggling Kaydel a story about a malfunctioning droid; Ello was taking a nap. Rey and Rose were mostly listening and sipping at their drinks.

“... and he didn’t want me to leave, but I said to him, I can’t bring myself to be on this planet anymore—”

“— she’s still looking for him, she hasn’t lost hope—”

“— that was rather traumatic, if I say so!”

After a while Rey caught a familiar name. Kylo Ren. She sat straighter, wanting to hear what they were saying about him, but it turned out they only mentioned him in passing.

“He’s looking for someone to help him with a ship he’s repairing. Well, more like rebuilding — it’s a piece of junk, really,” Rose said quietly to Rey.

Rey turned towards her. “Who?”

“Kylo Ren,” whispered Rose.

“Why?” Rey was surprised that Rose caught the name too.

“Dunno. He said it was his friend’s, and they’re fixing it together.”

Rey was intrigued. “Hmm, that friend must be the Wookiee.”

“He’s friends with a Wookiee?” It was Rose’s turn to be slightly surprised.

“Yes, though I’ve never seen him. One of the scavengers told me there’s an old Wookiee living with Kylo Ren. Surely they can fix the ship by themselves?”

Rose shrugged, and took a long swing from her cup.

“Wait, how’d you know all that again?” Rey asked with suspicion.

“Well, I had been getting some oil at the station, when he approached me and asked me if I wanted to get employed by him, guessing that I was a mechanic. I refused, of course, though I was scared he’d flip out, so I scurried off as fast as I could.”

“Why?”

Rose choked a bit on her drink. Rey patted her on the back.

“Why? Have you not heard what they say about him?” Rose asked after she stopped coughing.

“I did. But surely it’s all rumor? I saw him a couple of times, he didn’t seem like a murderer,” Rey laughed. 

“Saw whom?” Finn asked, arriving at their table with a tray full of colorful drinks and appetizers.

“Tall, dark haired, long-legged, looks like he could snap you in half,” Rose muttered. “Kylo Ren.” 

“You forgot to add he has a slanted jaw and his eyebrows are like little triangles,” Rey quipped.

“How do you know what his eyebrows are like?” Poe asked, raising one of his own bushy eyebrows. 

“Walked past him yesterday. He was repairing his speeder near the Outpost. I’ve never seen such a nice speeder before. I wonder where he got it, he doesn’t strike me as a rich guy.”

“Killed the previous owner, I would guess.” Finn plopped himself down next to Rey.

“Finn! You don’t know that.” For some reason Rey found herself defending Ren. “He may be a scoundrel, but he’s surely not a murderous machine or a bounty hunter or any other of that nonsense.”

Poe threw a cocktail berry in his mouth.“Have you seen him? He looks like one of those escaped convicts from the ‘Wanted’ holos.” Finn nodded in agreement.

“Yes I have seen him, as I was telling you a minute ago, and no he doesn’t!”

“Enough, guys.” Rose put the end to the conversation. “Stop bickering. We don’t know if he is and we don’t know he isn’t. Either way, I’m off to the restroom.”

Poe went to get another drink, and everyone else was either deep in conversation or almost asleep. Rey decided to take the opportunity and leaned closer to Finn to ask him quietly. 

“You didn’t come here only to look at the Imperial ships and trade with me, right? Is there something going on underneath all that? Otherwise you wouldn’t have brought so many people with you.”

With a slight hesitation, Finn answered. “Well… yes. It was stupid to think you wouldn’t guess it. We did get all the information on the ships, or the most important anyway. The graveyard is only a cover story now. Something came up. I can’t tell you anything, even telling you there is something we’re doing here is not allowed. You know how strict our general is. I’m sorry I can’t tell you, Rey. 

“Trading with you is still important, you know how hard it is to get stuff these days. It’s just that it’s true, they certainly wouldn’t have sent eight of us if it was a question of dealing with you, or collecting knowledge we can find here. But please, don’t tell the guys I told you anything.”

“Alright, I won’t.”

Rey was a bit hurt by Finn’s words, but tried not to show it when they were saying goodbye. Even though she understood why they couldn’t tell her, and even though she promised to herself she shouldn’t consider them her friends — after all, to them she was just a scavenger girl who sold them expensive ship parts — she couldn’t help feeling let down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you liked the update. The story will soon reach an unexpected turn, one of many, and that’s where all the fun starts!
> 
> You can reach me on Twitter at @branchesofstars


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings: a fight, a fictional Star Wars heart condition 
> 
> Things are getting exciting👀

_“There is nothing in my life but echoes…echoes of lost hopes and dreams and joys. They're beautiful and mocking.”  
L. M. Montgomery _

It was a very nice day. At least, it started as such. It was late afternoon, and Rey was walking through the Niima Outpost, knowing that she had in possession a satchel full of credits (all hidden in the nooks and crannies of her home), along with a bag of snacks — kettle korn, adder moss chips, Eilnian sweet flies and Reythan crackers, courtesy of Rose; and even Unkar Plutt’s mean and menacing demeanor earlier couldn’t spoil her mood. Though the best thing was, that while at the market, she was stopped by Melster, who excitedly told her he had finally gotten his hands on the new Ros Alagono book. 

“It’s harder to get them nowadays. That Alagono guy is slowly but surely taking the galaxy by storm! Who knew books of all things will get popular,” the Mirialan babbled while searching for the book in the pile of contraband. 

“Do you know anything about him? The author?” Rey has already paid with the credits, and was waiting eagerly, standing on her tiptoes behind the counter, impatient to finally see the book.

“Nah. Nobody does, I asked the guys that sell them. Prob’ly thinks that mystery sells better. Or maybe doesn’t want to be in the spotlight.” He finally found the box he was searching for, and took out the book. “An, here it is. Take it. Lah’mu.”

Rey wrapped the book gently and put it in her bag. 

Finally, she had something to distract her from her thoughts and the spells of her mysterious illness.

Those wonderful books! She had three of them already. Each described a certain planet or a moon — its nature, culture, residents. The books were big and colorful and full of pictures, some of them drawn by the author himself. But the most amazing thing about them were the descriptions. Rey, fascinated by languages since childhood, never experienced such a use of words before. They made her imagine things she didn’t know existed, and feel as if she really visited the faraway worlds — worlds covered in ice, mountains, waterfalls, forests, cities. The author, Ros Alagono, was a great traveler, who could understand, _really understand_ the beauty of nature, the beauty of life, and, most importantly, could translate his feelings into words. He was a poet at heart, and Rey’s hero.

✨✨✨

Rey felt them behind her, rather than heard them. She was about to attach the staff to her speeder, but instead gripped it tightly. Years of life on Jakku made her ready to defend herself, but she was too late to notice the danger— as she was turning around to face the attacker something hit her over the head. For a few seconds, Rey saw stars. She dodged, the next blow missed and landed on her speeder. There was a nasty sound of something breaking, and the smell of oil leaking on the sand filled the hot air. 

She had the briefest of moments to take a look at her attackers. 

There were two. She recognized them. Of course, Plutt’s thugs. One of them was carrying a club. 

He walked around the speeder, then darted towards her. While she was swinging her staff at him, the other one grabbed Rey by the middle, lifting her up in the air. That gave her the leverage to kick the git in front of her with her feet, he fell and hit the fence. She bit the arm that was holding her, and he lit go with a yelp. 

Rey was angry. She was always angry when fighting. It gave her the energy to be unafraid, to not stop fighting. But this time, the anger would not be enough. Whatever was wrong with her health was making her feel weaker than ever. She was out of breath. She knocked out one of them, but the other was still standing. 

She lunged at him, and attacked. She missed, the staff merely grazing her opponent. 

He hit her in the stomach. _Kriff._ She fell, breath cut short. He swung the club for another blow. Rey raised the staff above her head in a desperate attempt to protect herself from being hit again. But the blow didn’t come.

The ruffian was thrown off of Rey, and hit the ground with a thud. 

Rey was on all fours, trying to catch a breath. On the sand in front of her she saw a shadow. There was a click of a weapon’s safety lock. 

“You better go if you don’t want your head blasted,” said a deep male voice. “Never touch her again.”

Rey raised her head. There stood Kylo Ren, towering above them all, his dark hair flying in the wind; his blaster pointed at the scrambling thugs. He was looking every inch a real scoundrel, and there was something in his eyes, something dark and menacing, although he appeared calm and cold. _How many people had he held at gunpoint?_ thought Rey. For the first time, she felt like he might have been, after all, the monster they said he was.

He glared at Rey’s attackers until they scurried off. He put the blaster back into the holster and looked at Rey. All the anger in his eyes that was present a moment ago vanished, and for a moment Kylo and Rey’s gazes met, until she hastily looked away.

“I can take care of myself.” _Why, why was she getting embarrassed?_

“I can see that.” He sounded amused, but calm. “But in my experience, some help never harmed anyone.”

He offered her a hand to stand up. 

“I’m okay.”

She didn’t take his hand and tried to stand up herself. Her legs were shaking. Kylo didn’t lower his hand throughout her struggles to stand up, and Rey grudgingly took it. His palm was much bigger than hers, rough and covered in calluses. He pulled her to her feet. 

“Thank you. For helping me,” she muttered. She made a step towards her speeder, felt dizzy and the next moment plopped back onto the sand. 

“Are you okay? Are you hurt badly?” Kylo sounded concerned.

“I’m fine, I think. Just exhausted.”

“There’s a lump swelling on your head.”

“Honestly, I’ll be alright. I’ll just rest here for a bit.”

He sat next to her, in the shadow, searched for something in his bag and then passed her a water bottle.

Rey drank greedily— you could never get enough of water, living in a desert. She felt her pulse steadying and her strength coming back.

Kylo sat next to her for some time, looking at the horizon, then stood up and walked to Rey’s speeder. He made a circle around it, one brow raised, accessing the damage.

“They messed up your speeder.”

“It’s fine. I have some spare bits, I’ll fix it in no time.”

He thought for a moment. “No. I’ll do it, otherwise you’ll have problems with getting home.” He brought a bag full of tools from his own speeder, and started fixing Rey’s. “I’ve never seen a model like this before,” he said, and after a moment, looked up at her, as if he had realized something. “Did you make it yourself?”

“Yeah. From the parts I scavenged.”

He looked impressed. After about a quarter of an hour he finally announced that he was done.

“Thank you.”

He was quiet for a moment, and finally asked. “You know, I need a helper. I’m repairing an old ship, and two more hands would have been great.”

“Why? You’re good with mechanical stuff yourself from what I’ve just seen. And what about your Wookiee friend? Aren’t they supposed to be good at building stuff?”

“Yeah. But… I need someone smaller than myself, or the Wookiee. We’ve already repaired most of it — the ship is _very _old, but there’s some damage I can’t access — that section of the ship is too narrow, damn my broad shoulders. I see how good you are at this stuff. Building your own speeder from scrap… that’s impressive. I’ve already asked a couple of people, but… well, you can guess. They didn’t want the job. It’s just for a couple of weeks by my estimation, but I would pay you well. What do you think?”_ _

__

__Rey was ready to politely refuse — how could she agree to it? — but something stopped her. He defended her, then fixed her speeder, and was standing there looking all hopeful. She really didn’t want to disappoint him and sound ungrateful._ _

__

__“I’ll think about it,” she said._ _

__

__“Really? That’s great. Well, I better start home. Ch— my friend will murder me if I don’t bring his dinner.” Kylo picked up his tool bag, ready to leave._ _

__

__“Wait! You’re offering me a job, not even knowing my name?”_ _

__

__“Oh, right. I don’t know your name. I always thought of you as that plucky girl with hair buns. So, what _is_ your name then?”_ _

__

__“Rey.”_ _

__

__“Kylo. Nice to meet you. Here, take this.” He threw her something small, and she caught it._ _

__

__“What is this?”_ _

__

__“My coordinates. In case you decide to take the job.”_ _

__

__✨_ _

__

__During her ride home, Rey had a lot to think about. So, Unkar Plutt most definitely had some more proof of her machinations, and decided to what, scare her? Put her in his dungeons? And that weird encounter with Kylo Ren… Even now, she was certain she made the right choice to refuse his offer. He might be dangerous. Finn and co would disapprove and even maybe send a party to ‘rescue’ her if she agreed. He, on the other hand, will find someone else to help him — somebody’s bound to agree. There are not many opportunities for work in this place, no matter how scary the employer might be. And yet, knowing all this, she had to stifle in herself a feeling, a feeling that was a lot like regret._ _

__

__✨✨✨_ _

__

__That was not the last of the day's surprises. When Rey returned home, she saw an envelope laying at the entrance. It had something written on it. She picked it up. In big, wobbly letters it said “REY”. There was a symbol in the corner. Rey looked closer. It was the insignia of Maz Kanata. That was the message from the healer._ _

__

__Rey stood a bit, holding the letter. With everything that happened the last couple of days, she managed to forget she was supposed to get her results. And now she was nervous with apprehension. She felt like there was nothing serious with her, but one never knew. What if it is something that won’t go away by itself? What if she needed some special, expensive treatments to get rid of the pain? She _could_ bear it, but what if it got worse and made it impossible to work? To defend herself? What would she do then?_ _

__

__Rey opened the envelope. Inside was a letter on a very thin, almost transparent paper — was it paper? — covered in writing._ _

__

__Rey slowly breathed in and out, a little shakily. No use delaying it._ _

__

__She scanned the message with her eyes._ _

__

__It was very short. It stated, very bluntly, that Rey had a dangerous, fatal form of heart disease, which commonly was known as desert fever. Nothing could be done for her. If she took great care of herself, she might live another year, but she could also drop dead at any moment. She must eat and drink well, rest, don’t run or exert herself. She must avoid any excitement and all severe muscular efforts. Any sudden jolt or shock might be fatal. She must take a special medicine (delivered with the message) every time she is in pain, and carry it with her always._ _

__

__That was it. The letter stopped there._ _

__

__No word of comfort, no mention of any hope, nothing._ _

__

__Rey searched the floor with her eyes and finally noticed a little parcel — it must have slid off the sloped entrance floor. She picked up. Inside was a little bottle of medicine, little green cubes. She put it in her bag and went outside._ _

__

__Rey sat on the sand. The sky was violently orange, the sun setting in a row of clouds. She could see one of the Jakku’s moons rising. Somewhere far a speeder must have passed by, the roar of its motor lost in the wind._ _

__

__Rey’s mind was oddly blank. She tried to concentrate on the sound of a steelpecker nibbling on a piece of metal._ _

__

__A few minutes passed, which felt to Rey like a few hours. She was filled with incredulity and surprise, behind which was the strong belief that Maz wasn’t mistaken. She couldn’t be — the wise old creature studied the art of healing for hundreds of years. But Rey had only one more to live — if she was lucky._ _

__

__It was starting to get cold, so Rey went in and plopped into the hammock. She laid there, looking at the ceiling, thinking._ _

__

__What was she feeling? She couldn’t tell at first. Her mind was jumping from memory to memory, trying to distract itself. A faint memory of the day her parents left her, and she screamed at the departing ship. One of how she found the AT-AT that would become her home. That time she discovered a box full of Imperial rations and ate so much her stomach ached. How she found an amazing part, but then the other scavengers beat her and took it themselves. But mostly it was a mass of years blended together. Years of loneliness and struggle._ _

__

__She was not grieving for her future. She was grieving that she didn’t have a past. Never had a truly happy day. Never fell in love. Didn’t have a family. Left no mark in this world, no legacy._ _

__

__When she was little, she thought she was special. Dreamed that her parents were heroes, and that one day they would come back. She spent her life waiting for them, and now it was all for nothing._ _

__

__Rey wiped the tears that welled in her eyes. She would not cry. She would compose herself and decide what to do next._ _

__

__Should she tell anyone? What would they do? She imagined the anxiety in Rose’s eyes, pity in Finn’s and others’. _Too young to die._ They would try to help her, to make her life more comfortable, and she would spend her last days cooked up in some stuffy room, in care of a medical droid, sometimes visited by her pessimistic — looking friends. No, that won’t do._ _

__

__But what could she do?_ _

__

__Rey didn’t want to be pitied, didn’t want to be a burden. She wanted to be free._ _

__

__If only she could make this one year better. No scavenging, no Unkar Plutt, no tasteless portions. She laid for a moment, thinking._ _

__

__Something clicked in her brain. Rey had an idea. It was not fully fledged yet, but at least it was there. A little change in her life that could bring with itself more of them._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the update! 
> 
> Lah’mu — a planet in the outer rim territories.  
> Steelpecker — a Jakku metal-eating bird


End file.
